Fall 2012 Anime Season

Heavily biased reviews of the first episode of a handful of series, released four weeks into the season. This is useful how?

I concur.

Keep in mind that these are just their first impressions of these shows, so their thoughts may change over time. That was certainly the case for Madoka Magica.

Plus, the AR staff know what they're talking about when it comes to anime, and rather than praise the series that are usually hyped up by otaku, they look at them with a critical eye to see them for what they are. Sure they're harsh on some things, but that's just how they role.

Different strokes and all.

You missed the "four weeks into the season" part. Practically everyone who cares has made a call already.

edited 29th Oct '12 1:08:27 AM by burnpsy

You do realize they acknowledge that they were late in reviewing this season right?

...And how does that affect that there was no point in posting it here?

First impressions for stuff that goes on TV, like anime, become useless the second that people can access more than what the reviewer has seen. (For things like games, it's useful only when people don't already know all about the game.)

edited 29th Oct '12 1:24:57 AM by burnpsy

...Why do I get the feeling that you're just getting defensive because a bunch of people gave less than flattering reviews of a show you like?

Seriously, there's no need for that kind of attitude dude. I think the folks over on AR are pretty cool dudes, and I wanted to share their seasonal review over here. It's fine if you don't like what they have to say, but you don't have to say stuff like "there was no point to that".

No, I actually agree with a lot of their points. I'm actually offended that your immediate conclusion was something so petty.

I just don't see the point this far in.

edited 29th Oct '12 1:34:04 AM by burnpsy

No one said anything like being angry about what they said. I said it's biased, because it is, but the bias actually lines up pretty well with my own. I'm just not sure what use it has

Alright, my apologies then.

Better late than never I guess.

I'm still disappointed they missed the Summer season. ;_;

edited 29th Oct '12 1:40:52 AM by CrimsonFlameKnight

I have to say their opinion is unnecessarily confrontational, quite aside from which series they liked our didn't like.

Honestly they do seem pretty heavily biassed.

And from a more subjective standpoint their written opinion didn't always seem to line up with their score.

Then there's the fact that their subjective opinion was almost flame bait towards certain anime fan groups at times.

How should I put this? It's my opinion that their reviews lacked a certain objectivity.

I have to agree on all the bias claims. They don't even try to act objective...

What you have to ask, though, is whether that's necessarily a bad thing. It's certainly a good thing if your tastes overlap with the reviewer's, but it makes it useless to everyone else.

edited 29th Oct '12 1:44:02 AM by burnpsy

Yeah, they are pretty biased, but that's the deal with almost every review site. And their harsh tone, Brutal Honesty, and tendency to Accentuate the Negative is hit or miss.

While they do come across as quite flame-baitey, it's not like they flame anyone with a differing opinion on their forum or twitter accounts or anything, that's just a side affect of their ATN-style humour. Really, as long as you give constructive, reasonable arguments, you should be good.

Not all of us have had the spare time to see all the shows yet. Indeed, some of us wait specifically because of the "non-indicative first episodes" issue to see what the general consensus is before starting anything that wasn't an automatic "yes!"

^That's actually a large part of the problem I had with that post. It's based solely on the first episodes, so it's of no use for someone waiting to see what's good

(Curse you, curiosity.)

They gave Tonari 01 6 out of 10. So yeah... not feeling the inclination to read their Walls of Text. When it comes to Tonari, I'm (very) biased, with good reasons - goddamit.

That's why the gal who does Season One Episode One (the first episode of every new anime!) has added on an 'follow-up episodes' section for all but the most "why does this even exist" shows. Her next post is supposed to be "the dregs of Fall 2012", it's a week late, I'm a bit worried.

eta: I've found that critics who will admit they're biased and what way can be very useful—if I know where their position is, I can triangulate to see if the show is in my interest zone.

edited 29th Oct '12 11:41:30 AM by SKJAM

So do all the other anime reviewers not know what they're talking about when it comes to anime? Do I not know what I'm talking about when I say how much I love Clannad (which they hate), or how I find Robotics Notes to be interesting and completely worth watching?

And what does it mean to "see them for what they are?" Everyone sees the same shows differently; even if there are certain objective standards to which we can hold a show, what ultimately gets seen and processed by the brain is a product that is filtered through our subjective mindsets. Most reviewers that I consider good reviewers are aware of this and do their best to present their review not as a be-all end-all evaluation of the work, but as their own combination of objective and subjective evaluations, written in a way to help those unfamiliar with the work to make a decision by adjusting their own subjective biases as necessary.

This is all to say, I don't mind if someone wants to post reviews of the season, and I like looking at different opinions even if I completely disagree with them, but trying to pass them off as some kind of gold standard for reviewers is, frankly, annoying.

I wasn't trying to pass them off as a golden standard for reviewers. O_o Sorry if I came off that way.

They gave Tonari 01 6 out of 10. So yeah... not feeling the inclination to read their Walls of Text. When it comes to Tonari, I'm (very) biased, with good reasons - goddamit.

What, you can't see how someone might not think it's the greatest thing in the history of the universe?

Tonari has its high points, but the lead guy does edge a bit too far past 'lovably crazy goofball' into 'dangerously mentally-ill' in the first episode for a romance to quite fall under everyone's Willing Suspension of Disbelief. Dude needs a therapist, not a girlfriend.

Oh, I can see-understand-accept that not everyone would like it. But since, according to others, they're being very biased, I decided that I may as well be very biased as well.

Besides, right now - just thinking a bit about FMA has made me (currently) just not interested to watch anything from the Fall lineup. Tonari included. Have to rewatch FMA to help me get out of this pit of disinterest.